So Many Worlds to Choose From: Running the Labyrinth
by Leah.Ann
Summary: A bored girl, a map of various different worlds and places, and chaos. What more could you want? This part focuses on the Labyrinth.
1. Chapter 1

**So here it is, a new, revamped version of So Many Worlds to Choose From. I thought I'd restart. This is part one, and features the Labyrinth. I own nothing except my character and the story idea. In this chapter, all rights go to: **

**Jim Henson**

**J. R.R. Tolkien **

**C.S. Lewis**

**J.M. Barrie**

**Gaston Leroux/Andrew Lloyd Webber **

**All the geniuses behind Doctor Who, God knows they're all fabulous**

**Lewis Carroll **

***Breathes heavily* Well, I hope you enjoy, please leave a review if you feel up to it, constructive criticism is always welcome!**

**Leah x **

Rosie laid her head on the kitchen table. "I'm so bored."

Remembering that nobody was in the house to hear her, she got up and went into the living room. "I'm so bored!" she told the cat. The cat did not reply.

Rosie sighed and went outside. The weather was fantastic, at least. Not too cold, but also not hot enough to get bitten by some weird exotic insects that nobody knew the name of. She lay down on the grass. Simply too bored to go on, she told herself. Sure, she could read or watch a film, but the effort involved to walk upstairs made her feel sick.

Just stay outside, said a voice inside her head.

An unfamiliar voice. Not her own voice.

Rosie sat up, scared. Was she hearing things?

Don't worry, said the voice. And suddenly, the fear went away. She had a feeling of urgency now, and the voice encouraged her gently. Stand up, it said. Stand up.

Rosie did stand up, and not knowing why, she stuck her hand up and grabbed. She had caught something that she hadn't even seen. Bringing her hand slowly to her face, she saw what she had caught: a piece of paper.

Oh. She felt a huge disappointment. True, she had no idea what was going on, and she should probably be worried about this voice that she was hearing, but for a second, none of that had mattered. The sense of anticipation had been huge, and all she had was a piece of paper.

Read it, said the voice. It was more than a voice, it was a Voice. A thing, an important thing. It was friendly. If she had developed Schizophrenia (was that possible, so quickly?) then at least it was friendly.

Rosie sat down on the grass and looked at the paper. It was, in fact, a map. A worn, dog eared, brown map, with the ink faded slightly. She saw the basic outline of countries, like on any old map, but the names of the countries were …weird. She had never heard of them before. She didn't claim to be good a geography, but what kind of country was called Narnia?

She scanned the rest of the map. She ran inside quickly, grabbed a pen and the first scrap of paper she could find. She made a list of all the countries on the map. Lists were nice and organised, easy to comprehend. Lists were easy. As an extra touch, Rosie made it alphabetical. Even easier.

In the end, she had this:

Labyrinth

Middle Earth

Narnia

Neverland

Opera Populaire

TARDIS

Wonderland

It was just complete nonsense. She had noticed that while she had been writing, the little dot marked TARDIS had moved.

Somebody must have made this map, probably for fun. The names – although not the most imaginative - sounded magical and fun. Not boring, in other words.

Say one, said the Voice. See what happens.

Rosie hesitated. What I should do, she thought, is go to hospital and get my head examined. But she got that feeling again. That tingly, urgent feeling which said, you have to do this.

What harm can it do?

She looked at the first one on her lift. "Labyrinth," she whispered.

The world lurched and rushed up to meet her.

Bloody hell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter! The rights to all things Labyrinth do not belong to me, and you should thank Jim Henson.**

**Hope you enjoy, and please review!**

**Leah x**

She stood on a hilltop, overlooking the most impressive and terrifying thing she had ever seen in her life. It was a maze, twisting and turning in all directions, until her eyesight reached its limit and the maze disappeared. She could see a castle jutting up in the middle, but was too far away to make out any details.

The Voice shouted Labyrinth! in her head, and she knew. She saw the Goblin City, the repulsive little creatures that lived there. The Voice told her the Labyrinth was indeed something to be feared.

The Labyrinth was drenched in a sickening light under a blood red sky.

"I don't remember inviting you to run my Labyrinth"

Rosie spun. As she took in the figure standing there, the Voice shouted more words. Words such as Jareth! And Goblin King! And Careful! She understood that this was not someone to be messed with. Then the Voice said, I'm afraid you are alone now. Good luck. It went silent. Rosie's head felt empty.

The Goblin King smiled. "Nevertheless, here you are."

Rosie straightened up. "I don't want to run the Labyrinth. I don't even know how I got here."

But she did. It had to be the map. And the Voice, which had deserted her and left her stranded in a different world. At least the Voice had given her some information. She felt prepared, the shock which should have overwhelmed her kept at bay. Like she knew exactly what was going on.

The Goblin King stared. "I'm afraid that's not my problem. You're here, and to leave you must run the Labyrinth. It's the rules, if you will."

"But that's not fair!"

His smile fell from his face. "I knew a girl who said that once. Tell me, what is _your _basis for comparison?"

Rosie felt brave, which was ridiculous, considering the circumstances: trapped, talking to a man who had serious hair care problems (blond, fluffy and spiky all at once), being forced to run a Labyrinth – not something she had exactly trained for- and still wondering why she hadn't broken down and had a panic attack yet.

"What happens if I say no?"

The smile returned, ten times wider. "You get to become more familiar with the Goblins." She had no doubt he expected her to react to the word "goblin," but she thought it would be wiser not to.

"What happened to that girl you mentioned?"

He ignored her question. "Unfortunately, someone else is already running the Labyrinth."

Rosie looked out at the sprawling mess of twists and turns that lay below her. "What, it only occupies one?"

He shrugged; _what do I care?_

He turned and pointed towards a clock she hadn't noticed before. "You have thirteen hours to run the Labyrinth and reach the Goblin City."

Rosie nodded. "Fine. I'm ready." She blinked and he was gone.

"Right." She turned back towards the Labyrinth.

I really wasn't built for running, she thought.


End file.
